Laundry drier



LAUNDRY DRIER 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 26, 1950 INVENTOR.

g- 24, 1954 G. B. HERBSTER 2,686,978

LAUNDRY DRIER Filed May 26, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

M/ w dffM HTTOIF/VE'YS 1954 G. B. HERBSTER 2,686,978

LAUNDRY DRIER Filed May 26, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

BY I

ATTOR/VA-"Y g 24, 1954 G. B. HERBSTER 2,686,978

LAUNDRY DRIER Filed May 26, 1950 5 SheetsSheet 4 IN V EN TOR.

Aug. 24, 1954 c. B. HERBSTER 2,686,973

LAUNDRY DRIER Filed May 26, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet s I l I I I ,l l I I I IN VEN TOR.

By' -vw 6. 226w WM 1 TfoeNExg Patented Aug. 24, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 18 Claims.

This invention relates to a laundry drier and is an improvement on the drier disclosed in my copending applications, Serial No. 44,653,filed August 17, 1948, now abandoned, and entitled Household Heater and Clothes Drier Combination, and Serial No, 123,623, filed October 26, 1949, now Patent No. 2,677,897, and entitled LaundryDrier and Combination Thereof With Domestic Furnace.

In my copending application Serial No. 123,623 there is disclosed a clothes drier which is arranged on top of a household furnace of the hot air forced circulation type adjacent to the main air distribution duct leading therefrom. As therein disclosed, the drier comprises a drum arranged to rotate about a horizontal axisand having a foraminous circumferential wall. The drum is enclosed in a casing which has a side Wall which is arranged adjacent the main distribution duct and extends vertically substantially tangent to the circumferential wall of the drum. Aligned openings are provided in the distribution duct and the adjacent side wall of the casing, respectively, to provide an air inlet into the casing. A valve is provided for controlling the inlet so that all or part of the heat from the furnace can be deflected into the casing of the drier directly toward and through the circumferential wall at that quadrant of the drum in which the circumferential wall is moving downwardly. An exhaust opening is provided in the casing immediately above the inlet and thus at that upper quadrant of the drum in which the circumferential wall is travelling downwardly. The furnace being of the forced air circulation type, the heated air therefrom is forced by the blower of the furnace through the inlet into the interior of the drum through its circumferential wall and immediately out of the drum and through the exhaust. Thus the clothes are subjected to the air as they are falling from the upper quadrant adjacent to the exhaust to the lower quadrant therebeneath. Such a direct path of flow of the air through the casing and drum where the clothes are tumbling and loose insures adequate exposure of the clothes to the air. When it was attempted to put the exhaust in the casing in that quadrant in which the circumferential Wall of the drum is travelling upwardly, inadequate exposure of the clothes to the air and an adequate flow of air was not obtained for drying the clothes efiiciently and for removing the moisture or vapor from the casing.

In accordance with the present invention, this difiiculty is overcome by providing a drum having not only a foraminous circumferential wall but also a foraminous end wall, and arranging the drum in the casing so as to cause passage of the major portion of the air directly from the inlet toward and through the foraminous end wall and through the foraminous circumferential wall concurrently and to cause correspondingly the discharge of air from the drum through said walls at an upper quadrant of the drum. This assures effective drying of the clothes. Also it makes it possible to introduce the air into the casing at one end of the drum and the discharge of the air at the same end so that the external ducts can be positioned more conveniently in the room.

The drier of the present invention, therefore, comprises essentially a tumbling drum having a highly foraminous circumferential wall and a highly foraminous end wall so as to afford as free passage of air therethrough as possible, the drum being rotatable about a horizontal axis and driven by suitable power means. A casing having a peripheral wall and end walls encloses the drum and the one of the end walls adjacent the foraminous end wall of the drum has an air inlet at that lower quadrant of the casing of which the circumferential wall is travelling downwardly. An outlet is provided in the upper portion of the casing preferably in the same end wall as the inlet opening and at that upper quadrant of the casing in which the circumferential wall is travelling upwardly. Means are provided for blowing a large volume of moderately heated air into the inlet so that it passes through the drum and out the exhaust opening. The inlet is aligned with a portion of the foraminous end wall of the drum. The peripheral wall of the casing adjacent the lower quadrant of the drum in which the circumferential wall is travelling downwardly is spaced outwardly from the circumferential wall of the drum so as to form a relatively large free space for air between the circumferential wall of the drum and the adjacent lower portion of the peripheral wall of the casing. The passage thus formed is aligned with a large portion of the inlet so that the air entering the casing through the inlet passes into the drum not only through the foraminous end wall of the drum but also through the circumferential wall in said quadrant. The peripheral wall of the casing is spaced and positioned relative to the circumferential wall of the drum so as to constrain most of the air entering the inlet to pass through the drum rather than around the circumferential wall. However, the foraminous end wall of the drum is spaced sufficiently from the adjacent end wall of the casing to permit a substantial amount of air to pass therebetween and enter the drum over a large area of the end wall of the drum.

The more specific objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of my invention wherein reference is made to the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of the drier of the present invention and a forced air circulation furnace or heater arranged for supplying the necessary heated air to the drier;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal view through the drier and is taken on the line 22 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross sectional View of the drier and is taken on the line 3-3 of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a right end elevation of the drier and is taken as indicated by the line 4-4 of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the drier and is taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4, and

'Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view similar to Fig. 3, illustrating a modification of the invention.

The present drier is adapted tov be combined with a furnace or heater such as described in my above identified copending applications or with other types of hot air forced circulation household heaters. In my copending applications the drier is shown as mounted on the top of the furnace and the present drier is adapted to be mounted in like fashion, if desired. However, it may, as illustrated, be connected to any type of household forced circulating hot air furnace by means of a suitable duct so: that it can be located in whatever part of the basement or room is found convenient for that purpose.

Referring first to Fig. 1 there is shown a household furnace comp-rising a heat exchanger i into which combustible media are supplied by a suitable gas or oil burner 2 and from which the combustion products are exhausted through a suitable stack 3. The exchanger is enclosed in a suitable casing l which provides a plenum chamber for the heated air. Air is forced into the casing d by means of a motor driven blower 5. Leading from the casing i is a main air distribution duct {5 which leads, in turn, to the usual room ducts of the distribution system of the house. The casing is also provided with a duct 1 which leads to the inlet of the drier of the present invention. Any suitable type of valve 8- is provided for cooperation with the ducts 6 and l for directing the heated air from the casing l into the duct 6 or duct 1, as desired, and for prorating the amount of air part to the rooms of the house and part to the drier. A suitable conduit 9 is provided which leads from the drier to the outside of the house for carrying away the moisture laden .air from the drier.

Referring specifically to the drier, it comprises essentially a cylindrical drum It having a highly foraminous circumferential wall I I and a highly .foraminous end wall 12 at one end. The other end of the drum is provided with an annular end wall l3 having a central charging passage 14 therein. In order to assure free passage of the air through the foraminous walls of the drum the walls are preferably in the form of coarse mesh screen or offset expanded sheet metal, as illustrated. Regardless of the specific structure of the foraminous walls, they must be highly foraminous, that is, the openings should be large enough and closely enough spaced so that very free passage of air therethrough is possible.

For supporting the drum and its walls a suitable spider ill is provided at one end of the drum and has, at the outer ends of its legs, longitudinal ribs it which extend endwiseof the drum and are faced inwardly of the drum. The ribs It thus provide paddles to assure lifting of the clothes and tumbling thereof during rotation of the drum. The ribs it are preferably very narrow radially of the drum so as not to interfere appreciably with the flow of air through the drum circumferentially of the drum. As a result, a free space is provided within the drum for laundry pieces carried to the top of the drum by the paddles to fall freely through the upper and lower quadrants of the drum in which the circumferential wall of the drum is travelling downwardly.

The drum is. mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis. In the form. illustrated the mounting comprises a shaft ll which is connected to the hub of the spider l5 and is rotatably supported in a bearing Ill. The shaft ll carries a driving pulley l9 which is drivingly connected to a step-down pulley fill. The pulley 2G is driven by the motor 21. The pulleys It and 20 are interconnected and connected to the motor by suitable belts as illustrated. In order to maintain the proper tension on the belts, the pulley 23 is mounted on a slide bracket 22 which is urged by a spring 23 generally away from the motor and toward the pulley 19. The motor; in turn,is mounted on a bracket 24 which is adjustable by a screw 25 to different horizontal positions. By moving the motor tension can be applied on the belt between the motor and the pulley 2t and the pulley 26 thereby moved until the proper tension is obtained on the belt between the pulleys IQ and 2d. The motor is arranged to rotate the drum in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 3.

The drum It is enclosed in a casing having a peripheral wall 2b, which forms the sides, top and bottom of the drum casing, and end walls 2'l and 28, respectively. The end wall 2? is adjacent to the foraininous end wall of the drum. The wall 28 is at the opposite end of the drum and has a door opening aligned with the charging passage i l and carries a door adapted when closed to extend Within, and fit, the opening i l with close operating clearance so as to prevent the clothes from passing out of the passage Hi while being dried.

The peripheral wall 26 of the casing, viewed in a plane normal to the axis of the drum, preferably defines a rectangle or square as to which the circumferential wall ll of the drum forms approximately an inscribed circle, the circumferential wall I i of the drum thus being spaced slightly from the peripheral wall 26 at the transverse midportion of the top and batten). of the casing and the vertical midportion of the sides of the casing so as to assure that only a limited amount of air can pass around the circumference of the drum between the peripheral wall 26 and the points of closest approach of the casing wall 26 to the circumferential Wall H. Suitable insulation, as indicated at -29, is provided on the inside of the peripheral wall 2% so as to prevent undue heating of the room during operation of the drier.

Thus a substantially free air space for passage of air endwise of the drum is provided between the circumferential wall ll of the drum and the peripheral wall 26 of the casing at each quadrant of the drum.

The end wall 21 is provided with an air inlet 30 and an air outlet 3|. The air inlet 30 is arranged at that lower quadrant of the casing in which the circumferential wall ll travels downwardly and is directed toward the foraminous end wall 12 of the drum and into the said free air space between the circumferential wall II of the drum and the peripheral wall 26 of the casing at such lower quadrant. The opening 30 is preferably large and rectangular, extending vertically from near the lower level of the drum close to the level of the horizontal axis and extending from the peripheral wall 26 roughly about halfway to a vertical plane through the axis of the drum.

Roughly one-half of the opening is thus aligned with the end wall 12 of the drum and the other half aligned with the space between the circumferential wall ll of the drum and the peripheral wall 26 in the lower quadrant in which the circumferential wall II is travelling downwardly.

Thus air may enter freely through that portion of the end wall of the drum which is passing the opening at any instant and also through the circumferential wall of the drum throughout said lower quadrant. The air supplied is usually in excess of that which will pass through that portion of the end wall I2 directly aligned with the inlet opening 30 at any instant and that portion of the circumferential wall H exposed in the lower quadrant. This excess air can flow between the end wall 21 of the casing and the end wall I2 of the drum and thus enter the drum through the end wall I 2 at any convenient location, depending upon the position of the clothes in the drum at any instant.

The outlet 3! is correspondingly proportioned and aligned with the drum but is arranged preferably at that upper quadrant of the drum in which the circumferential wall I I travels upwardly. A suitable lint screen 32 is provide for trapping lint carried in the air passing out of the exahust 31.

The inlet 30 is connected to the duct 1 so as to receive forced circulation air from the furnace and the outlet 3| is connected to the duct 9 which, as mentioned, leads to the exterior of the building. Since both the circumferential wall II and the end wall l2 are of large open mesh, the air can freely exhaust from the drum and reach the passage 3|.

Referring for convenience to Fig. 3, it is seen that the clothes will drop from the top of the drum as they pass the highest level and will fall downwardly and somewhat to the left, thus tending to fall in the lower left hand quadrant and an adjacent portion of the lower right hand quadrant. Thus the air entering the drum through the circumferential wall I I, as well as the air entering through the foraminous end wall l2 strikes the clothes while they are loose and falling so that all surfaces thereof are subjected to air. As a result, the clothes do not become packed but instead are dried in a loose and fluffy condition.

The air delivered to the drier is preferably at about 160 to 170 degrees Fahrenheit. The air from the furnace is delivered to the drier at the rate of about 800 cubic feet per minute. With this air delivery, a static pressure of from about 0.2 to 0.5 inch is maintained within the drier casing. For this volume of flow, the drum preferably is about 17 inches in length and about 26 inches outside diameter. The inlet opening is about 64 square inches as also is the outlet opening.

Such a drum will accommodate readily a charge of about '18 pounds of wet clothes, this being the average charge of a domestic washing machine. This weight represents about 9 pounds of clothes and about 9 pounds of water which is retained after wringing the clothes. Since it is desirable not to dry the clothes completely but retain enough moisture for ironing properly, about twothirds of the moisture content is removed. This can be accomplished in about the time required for washing another charge of clothes in the domestic washer and ranges from somewhat less the rate of about 3510 B. t. u.s per pound of water, from a warm start, and with about 3660 B. t. u.s per pound of water from a cold start, each of these being considerably below the maximum requirement of about 3850 B. t. u.s per pound of water specified by the American Gas Association for laundry driers.

Referring next to Fig. 6 there is illustrated a modification of the invention which is the same in all respects as the preferred embodiment heretofore described, except for the fact that the air inlet is directly beneath the air outlet so that both the inlet and the outlet are in quadrants of the casing in which the circumferential wall of the drum is travelling downwardly.

Thus in Fig. '6 the air inlet 33 is directly beneath the air outlet 34 and the drum 35 is driven in the direction indicated by the arrow so that it is travelling counterclockwise in Fig. 6. Thus the air entering the inlet 33 can enter both the circumferential wall 36 and the end wall ill of the drum. Since the clothes are falling in the two left quadrants of the drum the air can pass freely through the falling stream of clothes. The remainder of the structure illustrated in Fig. 6 is clear from a comparison thereof with the structure illustrated in Fig. 3 and the description of the latter.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A drier comprising a drum having a highly foraminous circumferential wall and a 'highly foraminous end wall, means supporting the drum for rotation about a horizontal axis, power means for rotating the drum in a predetermined direction, a casing having a peripheral enclosing wall and end walls enclosing but spaced from the drum, said peripheral wall of the casing, in section normal to the drum axis, defining substantially a rectangle so related to the circumference of the drum that the drum is approximately inscribed therein, the end wall of the casing adjacent the foraminous end wall of the drum having an air inlet and an air outlet therein, the inlet being in that lower quadrant of the casing in which the circumferential wall travels downwardly and being aligned endwise of the drum .partly with the drum and partly with the space between the circumferential wall of the drum and the peripheral wall of the casing in said. quadrant, and the outlet being spaced circumferentially of the drum from said lower quadrant.

2. A drier according to claim 1 characterized in that said inlet, in height, is less than, but

, about equal to the radius of the drum.

3. A drier according to claim 1 characterized in that the outlet is in that upper quadrant of the casing in which said circumferential wall travels downwardly.

4. A drier according to claim 1 characterized in that the outlet is aligned endwise of the drum, partly with the drum and partly with at least one of the spaces between the circumferential wall of the drum and the peripheral wall of the casing in a quadrant other than said lower quadrant.

5. A drier comprising a tumbling drum having a highly foraminous circumferential wall and a highly foraminous end wall, means supporting the drum for rotation about a horizontal axis, power means for rotating the drum about said axis unidirectionally in a predetermined direc-- tion, paddles in, and very short radially of, the drum to lift loose pieces of laundry material substantially to the top of the drum, said drum affording free space for the pieces to fall from the top of the drum downwardly through the upper and lower quadrants of the drum in which the circumferential wall is travelling downwardly when the drum is so rotated by said power means, a casing having a peripheral wall and end walls enclosing the drum, one of said end walls of the casing being adjadent and alongside said foraminous end wall of the drum and having an air inlet therein at that lower quadrant of the casing in which the circumferential wall travels downwardly, a portion of the peripheral wall of the casing at said lower quadrant being spaced from the circumferential wall of the drum so as to afford therebetween a large and relatively free air space extending the major portion of the length of the drum and in direct communication with said inlet, said casing having an outlet in one of its said walls in an upper quadrant affording relatively free discharge of air from the drum and from the casing in said upper quadrant, blower means having its outlet connected to the inlet of the casing and having its inlet disassociated from the outlet of the casing, and means to constrain the major portion of the air entering the inlet to flow into the drum at said lower quadrant, and through the drum and then to said outlet,

6. A drier according to claim 5 characterized in that said outlet is in the said one end wall of the casing.

7. A drier according to claim 5 characterized in that said outlet is in that upper quadrant in which the circumferential wall is travelling downwardly.

8. A drier according to claim. 5 characterized in that said outlet is in said end wall of the casing and said peripheral wall of the casing is spaced from the circumferential wall of the drum in said last mentioned upper quadrant so as to afford therebetween a large and relatively free air space extending for substantially the full length of the drum, and said last mentioned space is in direct communication with the outlet of the casing.

9. A drier according to claim 8 characterized in that said upper quadrant is the one in which the circumferential wall is travelling downwardly.

10. A drier accor ing to claim 8 characterized in that said upper quadrant is the one in which the circumferential wall is travelling upwardly.

11. A drier comprising a tumbling drum having a highly foraminous circumferential wall and a highly foraminous end wall, means supporting the drum for rotation about a horizontal axis, power means for rotating the drum about said axis unidirectionally in a predetermined direction, paddles in, and relatively short radially of, the drum for lifting loose laundry pieces substantially to the top of the drum, said drum affording a free space for the pieces to fall from substantially the top of the drum through the upper and lower quadrants of the drum in which the circumferential wall is travelling downwardly when the drum is so rotated, a casing having a peripheral wall and end Walls enclosing said drum, one of the end walls being adjacent and alongside said end wall of the drum, and said Casing including means having an inlet opening into the casing and operable to admit air into the drum at said lower quadrant of the drum directly through said foraminous end wall and concurrently through said foraminous circumferential wall, said casing having an outlet in an upper quadrant for permitting relatively free flow of air out of the drum and casing, a blower means having its outlet connected to said inlet means of the casing and having its inlet disassociated from the outlet of the casing, and said casing including means for causing the major portion of said air to flow into the drum in said lower quadrant at that portion in which the laundry pieces would be freely falling and to flow out of said drum at said last mentioned upper quadrant.

12. A drier according to claim 11 characterized inthat said outlet is in that upper quadrant in which the circumferential wall of the drum is travelling downwardly.

13. A'drier according to claim 11 characterized in that said outlet is in that upper quadrant in which the circumferential wall of the drum is travelling upwardly.

1a. A drier according to claim 11 characterized in that said outlet is in said one end wall of the casing and in said last mentioned upper quadrant, a portion or" the peripheral wall of the casing is spaced from the circumferential wall of the drum so as to afford therebetwecn a large and relatively free air space extending generally endwise of the drum and in direct communication with said outlet.

15. A drier according to claim 14 characterized in that said outlet and relatively free air space is in that upper quadrant in which the circumferential wall is travelling downwardly.

16. A drier according to claim 14 characterized in that said outlet and relatively free air space is in that upper quadrant in which the circumferential wall is travelling upwardly,

1'7. A drier comprising a tumbling drum having a highly foraminous circumferential wall and a highly foraminous end wall, means supporting the drum for rotation about a horizontal axis, power means for rotating the drum about said axis in a predetermined direction, a casing having a peripheral wall and end walls enclosing the drum, one of said end walls of the casing being adjacent to and alongside said foraniinous r end wall of the drum and having an air inlet therein at that lower quadrant of the casing in which the circumferential wall of the drum travels downwardly,v said inlet being adapted to receive forced air and to discharge said air generally endwise of the drum, said one end wall of the casing also having an air outlet at an upper quadrant of the casing, said casing including means for causing a major portion of the air entering the inlet to flow into the drum in said lower quadrant and through the drum and thence out through 9 the outlet, a portion of the peripheral wall of the casing at the said lower quadrant being spaced from the circumferential wall of the drum so as to afford therebetween a large and relatively References Cited in the file of this patent free air space extending the major portion of 5 Number the length of the drum and in direct communication with the inlet, and at least part of the inlet being in alignment endwise of the drum with'said free air space, whereby air from the inlet may enter the drum through both of said foraminous walls concurrently.

18. A drier according to claim 17 characterized in that the portion of the inlet in alignment with said foraminous end wall of thedrum is smaller than the remaining portion of the inlet but approximately half thereof.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Spencer Apr. 9, 1907 Wingate Dec. 7, 1909 Collins July 11, 1916 Hickman Oct.. 16, 1917 Wollf Jan. 1, 1935 Pugh Jan. 20, 1948 Mintner et a1 Feb. 21, 1950 Murray Nov. 11, 1952 

